I would suggest updating. This release, according to backtrack-linux.org/blog, "includes a new kernel, a larger and expanded toolset repository, custom tools that you can only find on BackTrack, and more importantly, fixes to all (well, most..) major bugs that we knew of.."

I downloaded the virtual machine and installed it on my laptop. I am using vmware player, Turion 64 TL-60, 2 GB RAM. I don`t know why but backtrack 4 final is running extremely slow (the mouse barely move on the screen, if you open a terminal it takes 20 sec to really open...) .

I tried to use the ISO, started it as a live cd, but it is still slow.

Contrary, Backtrack 3 is running very well.

So, I supose that the final version needs a better CPU, or it is an incompatibility with the video card.

Everything about backtrack 3 was designed to run on low spec hardware. It uses older versions of kde (old even for those days) to reduce memory footprint for instance.

I've found bt4 to be more memory and processor intensive. One of their goals was to transition the distro from a live cd to more installed friendly and they are clearly taking advantage of increased hardware specs.

I think you are going to struggle running the vmware version on your machine, I would suggest installing it instead.

More info at http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net/.&nbsp; It's a lightweight window manager for X. You'll lose the nice KDE menu BackTrack built for you, but all the tools you need can pretty much be found at /pentest.

In regards of slow mouse movement VMware Tools might help, if you haven't installed them already.

I tried BT4 on a machine with similar specs. and it wasn't too slow to work with. How much RAM did you give your VM?

Is there any special reason why you want to use BT4? Personally I always preferred to set up my own pentesting machine rather than use an existing one which comes with lots of things I barely need. Doing so you would be able not only to setup up everything as you want but also to lower the hardware requirements.

Last edited by UNIX on Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

I tried BT4 on a machine with similar specs. and it wasn't too slow to work with. How much RAM did you give your VM?

Is there any special reason why you want to use BT4? Personally I always preferred to set up my own pentesting machine rather than use an existing one which comes with lots of things I barely need. Doing so you would be able not only to setup up everything as you want but also to lower the hardware requirements.

I prefer Backtrack because it is already made, and because I don`t have enough experience I like to try the applications they included on the cd.

About BT final, the problem is with my laptop. A coleague has a laptop with a core 2 dou 8400 CPU and has no problem with backtrack. I gave my virtual machine 800 MB ram, and even that it has 250 MB of memory free it is still extremely slow. I tried BlackBox, but I don`t think that I did it correctly.

Anyway, we have another lapop that is special configured for pentest and I`ll use it for Nessus. The rest of applications I`l use them from my Backtrack 3.

My BT4 final is very slow, i downloaded it on sunday morning opened it in vmware. the specs 10 gig hdd, 512 mem, dual core. but after installing it started slowing down. i thought i was the only person experiencing this problem until a friend called me complaining of the same problem. i went to the backtrack-linux forum and someone did mention the same thing. also this thread is saying the same thing. I did install the vmware tools but to no avail.i don't know whether to install it on my main laptop or stick to the BT4 pre.

need advise

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